Newsletter Nov11

							             November 2011                                    www.walbridgeohio.org                                 Issue 4




                                                       Newsletter
Message from the Mayor

Dear Fellow Residents,

I trust that this edition of our newsletter finds you doing well. While one might argue that our weather has not been perfect, it certainly
has been better than many other areas of our country. Hopefully you are able to enjoy some of the nice fall weather.

Here is a little update on things happening in the village.

Road Work
Several roads in town are being rebuilt and repaved as I write this letter. The contractor was supposed to start the construction work
last week but due to the heavy rain they had to put it off until this week. One of the things you will see as we do our roadwork this
year is that we are rebuilding the road base along the edges of the roads. As I am sure you can see, since the edges of the roads were
originally installed without sufficient base material they degrade quickly and result in the concave road surface along the edges. Once
this starts it continues to worsen as water sits in these depressed areas. While rebuilding the road base is more expensive, it is the right
way to fix the roads and will result in a longer period between resurfacing.

Curb Work
I am sure you have also seen that our curb repair program is starting this year along Breckman St. The Street committee of Council
decided that those curbs were the worst in town and opted for them to be done first. My intent is that this will be a yearly project until
all the deteriorated curbs in town are repaired.

While this disrupts traffic along this road during the construction, I would ask that you be patient until the work is done and if possible
avoid this area.

I had heard it mentioned that it is a shame that we hired a company out of Norwalk to do this work for us. For your information, when
we put this work out for bid, we received only one bid and that is the company that is doing the work. I thank them for submitting a
bid and for helping us to improve our town.

Fleet Upgrade
As part of our on-going efforts to maintain our police and maintenance equipment in a condition to serve you, we have acquired,
through a lease to purchase program, two new police cruisers, and we have refurbished our large dump / snow plow truck to extend its
life another hopefully 10 years. We have taken these steps in order to provide our personnel with the tools they need to continue to
perform the services we expect. I thank Council and our staff in their diligence in working to the budget to find creative ways in which
to stretch your tax dollars to best fit our needs.

Water District Issues
I, like many of you, have been hit with water bills that are much higher than what we are used to. In our preliminary investigations we
have found that the Northwest Water and Sewer District (NWWSD) bills were sent out in the previous billing without having the
meter readings from Toledo. Therefore, many of you were charged a ‘zero usage’ charge in your July bill that is typically $125.77.
Then in your October bill you were most likely charged for what is probably 2X the amount of typical water usage resulting in a
higher than normal bill. In our investigation with the NWWSD we have learned that they will credit some amount from the ‘zero
usage’ bill, but you have to call them to register your complaint and have them take care of the issue. I urge each of you to call them
and request your credit. I know this will be difficult because when I called I was on hold for approximately 15 minutes. We are
working with them to find an easier way to resolve these issues but in the meantime, please call them. Their number is 877-354-9090.


I hope that each of you has a wonderful fall season and that you take the time to express your thanks to those you love and to your
God. We all have much to be thankful for.

Very Respectfully,
Dan Wilczynski, P.E.
Mayor, Village of Walbridge
                Message from the Street Department by Brent Boulerisse

We began picking up leaves October 31st and will continue to pick them up until
November 30th or until we get 2” of snow.

Please remember with the snowy winter months quickly approaching whenever we
receive two inches of snow or more there is NO on street parking! Last year almost 30
people received parking citations due to snow so watch the weather report and be
prepared.

Residents that will have live Christmas trees to dispose of after the holidays; we will
begin picking up Christmas trees that are placed at the curb January 3rd- January 6th.




                        by Patricia Crawford, Fiscal Officer

 Please don’t forget your 3rd quarter estimated tax payments are due this month (November) and the 4th and final
2011 estimated tax payment is due in January, 2012.

Remember we will be holding two “FREE Walbridge Tax Preparation” dates next year. The dates will be
advertised in the Suburban Press, on the electronic sign in Veterans Park and in the February newsletter so
watch for the dates and mark your calendars.




                    Walbridge Branch Library by Jessica Toyer
All are welcome to visit the Walbridge Branch Library for special programs to instill and celebrate a love of
reading! Families with children of all ages, join library staff for “Family Story time” every Tuesday at 11:00
am, and drop in Thursday, November 3, and Saturday, November 5, to make ornaments and help decorate the
library for the holidays at “Trim a Tree!” Adult fiction and Mystery Readers are invited to two lively book
discussions a month. The Walbridge book group usually meets on the second Monday of every month at 1 pm,
and will be discussing The Book Thief by Markus Zusak on November 14 and The Christmas Pearl by
Dorothea Benton Frank on December 12. The Mystery book club usually meets on the fourth Monday of every
month at 6 pm, and will be discussing Iron Lake by William Kent Krueger on November 28 and A Christmas
Odyssey by Anne Perry on December 19. Copies of the books will be available at the main desk. All programs
are free of charge. For further information about any program or service, please call the Walbridge Branch
Library at 419-666-9900 or visit the library’s web site at http://wcdpl.org.
           Police Beat by Kenneth P. Frost, Chief of Police
          Winter is approaching fast which means the snow is coming too. This means we will be back to
           enforcing the snow emergency parking. Every street in town is an Emergency Snow Parking Street.
           This means that if the snow is over 2 inches deep, we will begin issuing citations. If a large amount
           of snow is forecasted, please be proactive and move your car ahead of time, especially if it is
           forecast for the overnight hours. Last year, we utilized our One-Call Now system to give our
           residents a “Heads Up” when heavy snow was predicted. We will be doing this again this year. If
           you are not signed up for One Call Now, you can do so by calling the Administration Building
           (419)666-1830. One Call Now is also used for other Village Updates and Notifications throughout
           the year and is free to join.

          One thing the Police Department has done in the past was to check for street light outages or
           malfunctions. We will continue to do this, but now the residents are able to report these outages.
           This is done by going to our website www.walbridgeohio.org. There is a link on the front page that
           will lead you through the process of reporting the outages to Toledo Edison. The process takes only
           a few minutes to do and Edison should contact you within a few days to update you on the status of
           the outage you reported. Now that residents can do this, we as police officers put that much more
           time on the road or on foot patrolling the Village.

          Our Police Department has also been providing a courtesy to the residents and businesses in town.
           This has been done in the form of checking the property while residents are away or while
           businesses are closed. Business checks not only consist of a drive through or visual check, but also a
           physical check of doors and windows on the property. This is a courtesy that we aim to complete
           daily, however it may not always get done. This could be due to our call volume, report writing, or
           multiple other factors. We currently have over 50 Businesses in town that are on our daily checklist
           in addition to whatever houses we have as well. Your house can be added to our list if you leave
           town for vacation or whatever reason. Forms for this can be filled out at the Administration
           Building.



                    Walbridge Business Corner by Maureen Jacobsen
Please do your best to support our local businesses located here in the Village of Walbridge. Every little bit
helps whether it is getting a pizza and cheese bread for dinner from Vito’s, anything from a 2 liter of pop,
gallon of milk and more from 7 Eleven or getting your snow blower and lawn mowers tuned up at W.F.
Smithers. These small business owners pay taxes based on the amount of income they make during a
calendar year. Help the small business owner’s flourish and grow as they are the backbone of our
economy.…… So remember buy local whenever possible!!! Thank you for your continued support of our
community. Also, as most of you know, the "Skillet" Restaurant closed and is under new management. It
is being renovated and will be opening in the near future. Remember to look for their grand opening and
enjoy!

As strong community supporters the Business and Economic Development Committee encourages
Walbridge businesses to contact Pam at clerkofcourt@bizwoh.rr.com with your business information that
can be placed on the back page of the Newsletter at NO cost! Anything from your general information to
coming specials or even coupons could appear in one of the four yearly issues for FREE!
                                              “News-U-Need” by Sue Hart-Douglas

Recreation Committee wants to thank CSX for their support and hands on help with the Railway
diamonds and Aqua Terrace pool earlier this year.
          We also would like to thank Walbridge Fest for Family Fun Day at Aqua Terrace in June.
          We are thankful to Waste Management for the donation of three new benches on the
walking trail at Railway Park.
          We supported the summer reading program at the Walbridge Library with one day passes
to the pool for signing up to read in June.
          We have had a good year with Fun Bus coming to Loop Park this summer, good
attendance at the pool and ball games at the parks.
          We were fortunate to have been awarded a grant from Wood County Parks for replacement
of playground equipment at Loop for 2012.
          The Recreation committee has started focusing on 2012 and needs for our parks and pool.
If you have any suggestions or ideas, please send an email or give the Village office a call.

Keep in mind next years Spring Community Wide Garage Sale which is usually held the same
weekend as the Rally by the Rails Festival in May. (Date to be determined) A great time to do some
spring cleaning and earn some extra money selling those unwanted items that someone else could
make good use of.

Speaking of spring, the Village of Walbridge is hoping to be able to open our Community pool again in
2012! Look for information to come!




On behalf of the Walbridge Festival Committee we would like to thank everyone who helped with this
year’s Spooktacular, Fall Festival. Everyone seemed to have a great time! Remember to keep next
October in mind to be a part of your community by coming out and enjoying all the great food and
fun! A special thanks to all the volunteers. Walbridge Fest, Inc. meets the last Wednesday of every
month in Council Chambers at 7pm please feel free to attend any of our meetings.

Also consider attending a Walbridge Centennial Committee meeting for location/date/time go to:
www.walbridgecent.com

Upcoming Community Events

Sunday, December 17th at 6:00pm, our 3rd annual "Santa Comes to Walbridge Parade of Lights" will
be held. Please consider being a part of this wonderful event for family, neighbors and friends. Last
years parade was successful even though it was very cold and snowing residents came out to enjoy
this fun family event. Don't forget Santa’s coming to town on the old fire truck! Come to the VFW after
the parade for refreshments and visit Santa. Please help make this event even bigger and better this
year, by participating…. make a float of your own! A tractor with battery operated lights, decorate
your vehicle, pull a trailer with blowup characters etc. You be the creative person that comes up with
an awesome idea. Please contact Walbridge Fest at 419-662-6561 for information or to sign up to be
in the parade. Also, again this year Walbridge Fest will be giving a $100 cash prize for the best
decorated house in Walbridge. The winner will be announced after the parade on December 17th at
VFW Hall. The decorating contest will benefit the entire community as we all get to enjoy the beautiful
holiday décor.
            Human Resources Committee by Jan Sawaya, Human Resources Chairperson

The Human Resource Committee has worked very diligently to create a job description for a
new Village Administrator. We recently advertised in the newspaper and hope to find a
qualified candidate to fill this vital position in the Village infrastructure. The Village Mayor and
Council will soon be reviewing health insurance cost for the village full time employees, we
plan to provide the employees with health care coverage that meets their needs and is fiscally
responsible to the residents.



                  Our Community Information
It has come to our attention that many Northwestern Water and Sewer customers received very large water
bills this quarter. This is a very unfortunate situation that has place a financial strain on many households. One
item that we have learned is if your water bill that you received in July 2011 was $125.77 then you are eligible
for portion ($36.70) of that total amount to be credited towards the October bill. The problem is that you have to
call NWWS 419-354-9090 and request credit for that amount. The “magic number of $125.77” means that
you were billed for zero usage. The $36.70 figure is the fee for 0-2000 cubic foot of water usage during the
quarter, so if you used zero then you should not have had to pay the $36.70 portion of the bill. The rest of the
fees are the quarterly minimums. If for example you are one of the many snow birds living in Wood County
then you can call NWWS when you leave for the winter and they will come to your home and shut the water
service off at the street which will stop any charges and when you return home call NWWS to have the service
turned back on. The customer service number for NWWS is 419-354-9090 #2 is billing & permits.

    A list of the dates the Village Offices will be closed for the remaining 2011 holidays:

                               Friday, November 11, 2011 Veterans Day
                              Thursday, November 24, 2011 Thanksgiving
                              Monday, December 26, 2011 for Christmas
                               Monday, January 2, 2012 for New Years

                Look for the next newsletter in February 2012
                             Have a great winter!


                                    Wishing you a safe and wonderful
                                            Holiday Season